Lost in Translation: an Experiment with Memes for Research Translation in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care (ecec) Contexts

Abstract

Early transitions are on the rise across global and national contexts. However, resources informing teachers and families about best practices concerning infants, and more specifically infant transitions from home to early childhood settings, are almost non-existent. In this article, the authors share the outcomes of an experiment that translated research from an International Study of the Social and Emotional Experiences of Early Transitions (isseet) project into a range of visual resources for this audience. They created a suite of video, infographic and meme visual resources that outlined ‘what works’ for quality early transitions, and sought end-user feedback around their utility. While the feedback was positive overall concerning infographics and video, end-users expressed strong negative responses to the use of memes. In the article that follows the authors explore why it might be so. They draw on the Bakhtinian concept of genre to interpret the relationships between form and content in the translation and interpretation of meanings ascribed to memes in particular. They argue that the complex humour and cultural memory that sit behind memes grants them unique translation status, and consider pathways to utilising meme-agery for research translation which seeks to have impact on end-users – in this case early years teachers.